The Golden Snitch
by DylanJames666
Summary: It's Christmas at Hogwarts and the Potter boys have chosen to spend their holiday at school. A present from Albus to James plays a hand in events that follow at the Quidditch, involving a recently released broom and a certain Slytherin boy.


"_James, it's Christmas!" Albus burst into the seventh-year boys' dorm screaming. Though his age stated otherwise, he still held onto some of the characteristics of the first year he once was._

"_Albus, do you have any idea what time it is?" James mumbled into his pillow. _

"_Do you?" Albus said. By this point his was at his brother's four-poster waiting for him to open his eyes._

_When James did open his eyes he was taken by surprise. There was a mass amount of sunlight pouring in through the windows. And then of course there was the emerald green sweater that bore the letter 'A' on the front. Grandma Weasley had clearly not given up on the tradition of knitting sweaters for the family. He wondered if his would be the same as last year._

"_Happy Christmas, Al." He said after he was accustomed to his surroundings. Albus smiled awkwardly as James got up from his bed. "What's that look for?"_

"_Pick a hand." Albus said. He had his hands behind his back._

"_Left." _

"_Pick the other one." _

"_Left."_

"_No, pick the other one!"_

"_Albus, if you don't show me what's behind your back this instant I'm going to-" James cut himself off mid sentence. His brother had given up on the game he was trying to win and handed him the small box that Albus didn't attempt to wrap._

"_I didn't wrap it because that would have taken too much time and I knew you would open it and tear the paper to shreds. I figured I was saving both of us time we didn't want to waste. So go on, open it already!" Albus had always been eager for people to open his presents. They were always hand-crafted things that really had no value whatsoever. But it's the thought that counts._

_James opened the box slowly, unsure of what to expect. Inside were three things. They had been reduced in size, clearly to confuse him as to what they were when they were covered in the box. Without grabbing his wand, the elder Potter muttered, "__Engorgio._" The contents of the box instantly grew to their normal size; a golden snitch and a pair of Quidditch gloves.

"Thanks, Al! I needed a new pair of gloves." It was true. James' other pair have been in use for three years and we're starting to fade and rip. 

"You're welcome. What about the snitch? You didn't say anything about the snitch. I know your other one got lost one day when I was playing with it, so I thought it only fair that I get you a new one even though you told me it wasn't a big deal…" Albus was known to ramble about something for far too long. James ended this little speech by embracing his brother in a hug. 

"I love it. Thank you." James said, rubbing his hands on his brother's head, messing up his messy black hair that had clearly come from his father. "Happy Christmas, bro. Here take this." James reached into his night stand and pulled out a package that was neatly wrapped in red and gold paper.

Albus looked wide-eyed at his brother before continuing to tear off the paper. He was such a kid when it came to Christmas. A leather bound journal, a nice quill, some ink, and a letter made up the contents. "I filled my last journal!" He exclaimed. 

"I know, that's why I got it. I figured you needed one and I saw it and thought of you." James told him. Albus simply smiled and proceeded to hand James the rest of his presents that lay at the foot of the bed. 

A new set of dress robes came from his Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione. A classic Mrs. Weasley sweater in crimson red with the letter J stitched onto front came from his grandparents with a note saying, "Visit soon, lot's of love." His parents' gift was his favourite of all of them.

A brand new Silverspring. It was the perfect broom for a seeker like James. It was undeniably the fastest, easiest to handle, and the best on the broom market.

"Let's go test out your broom, James!" Albus said. He skipped out of the room like the little kid he was on Christmas. James took a look at the clock before leaving. 11:38. There wouldn't be too many people roaming the halls to delay their walk.

Albus walked through the corridors with James talking about anything that came to mind. They talked a little about Quidditch, some about their classes, about their decision to stay at Hogwarts for the vacation (they didn't enjoy the mass amount of family activities that took place). They also talked about their respective romantic-lives. That conversation lasted from the front doors to the Quidditch pitch.

The pitch was empty except for one Slytherin boy that just happened to receive the same broom James did for his Christmas present.

"Hey Potters." The boy shouted from mid-air. "Oh, Jamesy. Looks like you've got the same broom as me. Want to test your skills against mine? I'd ask you Albus, but I don't want anyone to get hurt." He laughed the ruthless laugh that only a Slytherin could have.

"Shut it, Scorpius." James said as he mounted his broom. He was about to take off when he decided the first person to ride the broom should be his brother. He got off and handed it to him.

"What are you doing, James? It's your broom. Show Scorpius how to fly it." Albus said, backing away.

"No. You fly just as well as I do. Besides. I don't think it'd be fair of me to contest a sixth year. It would be easy and cruel." They laughed and Albus finally decided to get on. Albus flew up and faced Scorpius. "First to catch this snitch wins." James called as he pulled out the snitch his brother had given him. 

He threw it up and the game was on. Scorpius and Albus saw the gold spec fly past them and then they didn't see it again for quite some time. They flew in circles around the pitch, each looking as hard as they could. 

Albus was surprised at how well the Silverspring flew. He had flown many nice brooms in his lifetime but this one didn't even compare. He hardly had to move the broom to make it turn. And it was so fast. 

Scorpius seemed to be having a little more trouble adjusting to the broom than Albus did. He was flying much slower and it was clear that Scorpius had some work to do on his turns. 

"Having trouble, Scor?" Albus asked when he flew next to the Slytherin. Scorpius threw Albus a look. Albus just laughed and then dove his broom straight to the ground. He had seen the little spec of gold that he was waiting for. He pulled his broom up when he got closer to the ground and raced forward to the snitch. He was so close to catching it.

Scorpius had dove too, but in a different way. He flew straight a little more and then dove so that he was now flying straight in the direction of Albus. They were both approaching the snitch in different directions and if one of them didn't catch it quick and dodge, or simply dodge for that matter they were going to collide. 

Albus made the smart decision and dove out of the way. Scorpius had caught the snitch and it was over.

They both landed near James; Scorpius was smiling and Albus seemed extremely upset.

"Now who's having trouble?" The Slytherin boy scoffed. Albus didn't say anything, he just handed the broom back to his brother.

"Alright, that was a low move, but what can we expect from Draco Malfoy's son. Give back the snitch now." James said. He held out his hand waiting for him to give back the golden ball.

"This snitch is brand new." Scorpius noted as he began to give it back. James nodded. "Gift from your brother, perhaps?" James nodded again. "Be a shame if anything happened to it."

"Give it back, Scorpius." Albus shouted. He reached for his wand. Scorpius too pulled out his.

"Please, Scorpius. It would be extremely idiotic of you to even think about attacking my brother. You know full well I'm at the top of my class in Defense. And you know Albus here is a master at Charms." James didn't even bother reaching for his wand. He could do more wandless magic than Scorpius could do with his wand.

Scorpius put away his wand and got on his broom. He threw the snitch at James.

"Happy Christmas, coward." Albus said to him. Scorpius jumped off his broom and lunged himself at Albus. 

"Don't you dare call me a coward!" He shouted as he took a swing at Albus' face. James restrained Scor's arms just in time. Albus reached for his wand and without thinking it through enough shouted "Reducto!" 

The spell hit Scorpius square in the stomach, sending him flying backwards. James was affected by the spell too due to the fact he was standing behind the boy and attached to his arms. 

Neither of the boys were greatly hurt. Scorpius just grabbed his broom and flew off in a heated rage. Albus ran over to James and apologized countless times. "I'm so sorry, James. Are you alright?" 

James nodded and coughed. "That was a powerful hit you got there. Nice work." James got up with the help from his brother and realized the snitch was no longer in his hands. He looked around the area where he was hit and found the snitch dented and missing a wing.

"Dammit." Albus said. "I broke your present. I'm sorry. I'll get you a new one." He said. He was so upset.

James picked up the snitch and muttered, "Reparo." The snitch regained the missing wing and the dent was fixed instantly. "No worries, see bro." He held up the snitch and noticed that there was writing on the side.

_James Sirius Potter - My role model. Happy Christmas. Love, Albus._

"You didn't tell me your engraved it." James said.

"Yeah. I hope you don't mind." Albus replied.

"Not at all. I love it even more now."

"Good."

"So how about we go back to the castle and get some food. I'm starving." James stated. Albus agreed that it was a good idea and walked back to the castle. "You know, you did fly the broom pretty well."

"Really?" Albus asked, he sounded excited. He always wanted to be told he could fly well.

"Oh yeah, definitely. I'll let you use this whenever you want." 

"Sweet deal. Can I use it in the first match after break?" Albus asked. 

"Yeah…no. I don't think that's going to work. Seeing how we both play for the team and I'm not losing the chance to show it off to the entire school." James laughed. So did Albus.

"Fine, then the game after that."

"Nope."

"The next one?"

"No."

"How about the game when we play-"

"Alright, new agreement. You can use the broom whenever you want except in Quidditch matches."

"Fine."


End file.
